1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of beverage makers, and more particularly to a novel apparatus for brewing tea leaves and extracting a flavored liquid which is dispensable in accordance with the taste of the user with respect to flavor strength.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to introduce tea leaves or the like into a boiling liquid such as water so that the flavor of the leaf is extracted and circulated within the water medium. At the judgment of the user, the strength of the flavor is under the control of the user who selectively removes the tea leaves from the boiling water after a period of steeping. The flavored liquid may now be dispensed by pouring into a cup or other serving device. Some attempts have been made to automate the steeping procedure by including timers, valves and other apparatus for controlling the release of the flavor substance into the surrounding boiling water and dispensing the same.
Difficulties and problems have been encountered with such apparatus which stem largely from the fact that the flavor strength differs from one individual to another and automatic devices do not take such differences into account. Furthermore, conventional automatic beverage machines do not include a means for combining a concentrated flavored liquid with unflavored water so that the user may judge or select a desired flavor strength. Other problems have been encountered with conventional beverage makers which reside in their expense, complexity and cumbersome operation.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a novel beverage maker, particularly for the extracting of flavor from tea leaves, which is simple to use, inexpensive to manufacture and which provides a means by which the user may readily select the strength of flavor as the flavored beverage water is being dispensed.